Thoughts of Spring Travel

So it was about a year ago that I went to Barcelona. (After a week horrendous flu.) And amid the ever-lingering winter of Chicago, I really miss travelling someplace warm. There's this juxtaposition when you leave your frigid, extreme midwestern climate for something moderate, sunny, and beach adorned. Something that makes you sensual.

Speaking of sensual! Last night I got to enjoy a wine by one of my favorite white-wine producers ever, Do Ferreiro from the Salnes region of the Rias Baixas. I desperately want to go to Galicia, and this gets me pretty damn close (except for the cash it puts me back). A blend of about 85% Albarino and 15% Treixadura from a single vineyard. I love and appreciate Do Ferreiro's use of old vines, very low crop levels, and great ripeness--underripe, overcropped young vines lead to a more tart, less comples, less finesse, and that's mainly because certain crappy producers just want quantity of a somewhat trendy grape. Native yeasts are important to give the wines some character, as opposed to that icky international style.


The Rebisaca 2005 was amazing with a mix of sushi. It's a very firm, mineral wine, deep golden color, with notes of honeydew, meyer lemon, fennel, and loads of sort of this granite/slate aroma (Even though grown on the sandy too-well-drained Galician soil.) It had a very Burgundian balance and firmess of structure, which made me drool and reminded me why great wines from the Rias Baixas are some of my favorite in the world, combining the richness of white Burgs with the minerality and expressiveness of great Mosel, Rheingau, Pfaltz, and Nahe rieslings. Do Ferreiro knows how good their wines are, so they are all priced at or above $20, which, in terms of other wines of this stature, is a steal.

What I must try is the Cepas Vellas, rumored to be made from 200+ year-old prephylloxera albarino vines. Check out the video here.